


Birthday

by Littlespacestars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Allura is still an alien, Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Minor shallurangst, Shiro (Voltron) is a Dork, Shiro is still human, Shiro likes Lord of the Rings okay, Voltron, shallura - Freeform, she crash-landed on Earth and has been stranded, vld, voltron legendary defender - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 05:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14049825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlespacestars/pseuds/Littlespacestars
Summary: “Uh, Allura?” He doesn’t move an inch, only side glances at her and then back at the plump mouse standing upright on its hind legs. “There’s a giant—”“Oh, don’t be alarmed, Shiro!” Allura sets aside her watering can and quickly scoops the stout mouse into her hands. She strokes the top of its head and gives it a fond smile. “This is just Platt, no need to worry.”“Platt,” he repeats, still a little dumbfounded. “Okay, so it’s normal for you to have a yellow and green mouse. Noted.”





	Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small drabble for an AU where Allura crash-landed on Earth and has been stranded there without any contact with Altea for six years, and has blended in with humans. She's known Shiro for about a year, and for most of that time they've been dancing around their feelings for each other. They've only just recently gotten involved and Allura's finally showing off where she lives.

He isn’t sure what to expect when he walks into her apartment. At the back of his mind he expects there to be regal curtains and fancy rugs because that screams "royalty" and "princess" to him. But on the other hand, he also expects her home to be filled with alien technology far too advanced for him to possibly understand.

Which is why he finds himself surprised when he walks into a normal studio apartment with old grey brick walls, and a lot of natural lighting. And green. Lots and lots of green—plants and flowers of all different shapes and colors adorn the small space. It smells of earth and the sweet scent of nature. Strings of fairy lights run along the walls and are wrapped around a tall plant in the corner. If anything, it looks like a home decorated by an average young woman from Earth, ecstatic about greenery.

“If there’s one thing I truly admire about Earth, it’s certainly the flora.” She closes the front door behind him and gestures to it all. “Some remind me of the plant life back on Altea.”

“Well, it definitely seems like you have a green thumb,” he notes, taking a closer look at what he understands to be petunias, which are bathing in the light at the windowsill. “My mother raised a garden when I was young, so I was kind of hoping I’d be decent at keeping plants alive.” His eyes flit to the side to look at her and a boyish smile takes over his face. “I’m not though. It’s why I have a zen garden instead.”

She scrunches up her nose and laughs. “Well, different things come naturally to different people,” she says, hanging her bag up on the hook beside her door. She grabs a small watering can and places it into the kitchen sink to be filled. “I would love to see this ‘zen garden’ of yours sometime. Sounds peaceful.”

“I’d be happy to show you.”

Shiro lets himself wander around the apartment a little while Allura tends to her plants, mindful that there aren’t any photos of people along the walls or on the fireplace, only framed photos of nature. 

She’s talked plenty about Altea before—the plant life, the Altean customs, their clothing, the technology that’s much too advanced for him to understand. She’s told him about her father, King Alfor, and her advisor, Coran, and every other individual who helps run the kingdom. Allura is the princess of an entire planet and everyday Shiro can hardly contain his amazement.

He hears a squeak come from the mantle of the fireplace and startles backwards. He locks eyes with the biggest yellow (and green?) mouse he’s ever seen in his life.

“Uh, Allura?” He doesn’t move an inch, only side glances at her and then back at the plump mouse standing upright on its hind legs. “There’s a _giant_ —”

“Oh, don’t be alarmed, Shiro!” Allura sets aside her watering can and quickly scoops the stout mouse into her hands. She strokes the top of its head and gives it a fond smile. “This is just Platt, no need to worry.”

“Platt,” he repeats, still a little dumbfounded. “Okay, so it’s normal for you to have a yellow and green mouse. Noted.”

Allura brings Platt up to her face and he snuggles against her cheek. “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention that the mice were in the escape pod with me.”

“Mice?” Shiro looks around for a moment and sure enough, three other abnormally colored mice sit atop the fireplace mantle, sizing him up.

“Aside from my translators, they’re the only piece of home that I have with me.” Allura smiles down at Platt and holds out her hand to allow the rest of the mice to climb up her arm and find a place to perch on her shoulder.

“So, they’re like your pets?”

Some very loud, and what Shiro would guess are disparaging squeaks, come from the group of mice on Allura’s shoulders.

“I’d rather call them friends,” she says, trying to calm the mice down. She can’t have her Earth friend and her Altean friends getting off on the wrong foot. “They’re _incredibly_ intelligent.”

“Oh, uh, of course.” A sheepish smile washes over Shiro’s face and he holds up his hands in apology at the mice. “Sorry, didn’t mean any offense. Just a clueless human.”

The thinner, blue grumpy mouse of the group huffs at him, but the rest of the mice seem to grant him some slack and stop squeaking.

“Still as grumpy as ever, Plachu,” Allura muses, gently poking the blue mouse with red eyes in its side. “I know we never have guests over, but Shiro is a friend and doesn’t mean any harm, believe me.”

Plachu merely gives Shiro a side eye and points his tail at him warningly, like he’s brandishing a sword.

Shiro can’t help but let out an amused laugh at the gesture. “Alright, alright, I can prove that I come in peace. I have a gift for Allura that you guys will probably like, too.”

“A gift?”

He opens up his satchel and starts to carefully dig around inside. “Have you celebrated your birthday before?” he asks.

“My birthday?”

“You know, the celebration of the day of your birth.”

“Oh.” Allura pauses for a long moment, and takes a seat at the table. The mice situate themselves in her hair and get comfy, their curious little heads peeking out. “Not in quite awhile,” she finally says.

“Well, I meant to ask you when your birthday is, but…” Shiro pulls out a small white box with a purple ribbon and pushes it towards her. He nods to her and she carefully opens it. There’s a gourmet cupcake with pink frosting and white sprinkles in the shape of stars inside.

Shiro rummages around in his pocket for a candle and lighter, and sticks the candle into the cupcake. “I realized that it might be impossible for you to know, given your circumstance.”

“Yes, I suppose it would be a little difficult to figure out my birthdate when your dates are much different than my own. Not to mention the seasons.” She can’t take her eyes off the cupcake and the brightest smile is already on her face. He can’t wait for her to see the candle lit. Even the mice look intrigued.

“I figured we could celebrate it today, if that’s alright. You mentioned it was probably around the day you arrived on earth?”

“I did,” she says, carefully reaching out and turning the cupcake on the table to show off every angle of it to the mice. Each of them give a very approving squeak at the sight. “Is that what this little cake is for?”

“On earth we usually celebrate birthdays with cake and ice cream, candles, presents. Those sorts of things.”

“Right, yes.” Allura eyes the candle stuck into the cake. “I think I’ve seen this done at least once before. You…light the cake on fire?”

Shiro gives her a fond smile and gestures to the lighter in his hand. “I light the candle and you blow it out.”

“Simple enough.”

Shiro reaches over and lights the candle. Before he has a chance to say anything, Allura immediately blows it out.

Shiro laughs. “I guess I didn’t explain that very well.”

“What do you mean?” Allura pouts and tilts her head to the side skeptically, the mice all shifting in her hair at the sudden movement. “I did exactly as you said.”

“You’re supposed to blow out the candle after I sing you Happy Birthday,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, you wish to _serenade_ me, is that it?” She raises a brow and playfully smirks at him, those bright blue eyes of hers shining. Shiro swears he hears the mice snicker.

“It’s not serenading.” He grins and starts turning as pink as the frosting. “It’s just a song family and friends sing to the birthday girl?”

“Are you sure this isn’t meant for children?”

“Well, it sort of is. But people of every age celebrate their birthdays like this, especially when they hit a certain age. Like, 50 years old, for example.” He raises his shoulders and smiles. “That’s about half the lifespan of a human, so that’s a big milestone.”

The smallest mouse lets out a loud squeak from Allura’s hair, which sends the others chittering back at him, and Allura does her best to ignore it. “Oh,” she says with a polite smile. “50 years old.”

“Yeah, I’m 25, so I’ve got a ways till then.”

Allura clears her throat and shifts in her seat, ignoring the chittering of the mice in her hair. She puts her fist under her chin in preparation, an amused smile of her own mirroring his, her voice suddenly light and airy. “Please continue.”

Shiro nods and switches off the little kitchen’s main light first. The mice instantly go silent. Then Shiro reaches over and lights the candle again, hesitating for a moment before starting the song. “ _Happy birthday to you…_ ”

His voice is hushed in the quiet of the apartment, a little rough and certainly shy. But his voice is good enough to carry a tune, and Allura can’t help but feel herself start to melt like the wax that’s beginning to lazily drip down the candle.

She watches as he keeps his eyes focused on the cupcake, the flickering light of the candle setting his grey eyes aglow. Allura reaches over and holds his hand.

“ _Happy birthday, dear Allura._ ” He finally looks up from the cupcake and stares back at her, squeezing her hand. His voice is soft and soothing and the most beautiful, self conscious smile overcomes his face. “ _Happy birthday to you…._ ”

Allura looks down at the candle and then back at him for approval to blow it out.

“You have to make a wish before you blow out the candle.”

“This is certainly for children.” She can’t help but giggle, absolute music to Shiro’s ears, and she can feel her face flushing.

“Allura, please.” He laughs too and pushes his bangs up away from his forehead, feeling himself burning up. “I’m giving you the full earth experience.”

“Well,” she muses, “I certainly have two things I want the most. But I suppose I can only have one.”

“Don’t tell me, or it won’t come true.”

Allura’s eyes soften as she watches the purple candle flicker, thinking of the two important things she wants most: Altea and Shiro.

Home is full of her friends and family and her juniberry flowers that she adores so much. It’s full of Alteans like her, people who respect and know her. It’s her her history, her culture that she misses so extraordinarily. It’s her planet that was under siege, it’s her planet that could be gone, it’s her home that she’s given up on ever seeing again, because it’s been six years and they still haven’t found her on this little blue planet called Earth. 

Or there’s the human man she’s known for a year that she’s fallen hopelessly for. The man named Takashi Shirogane with the metal arm and white patch of hair. He’s a man with scars and trauma, but he perseveres through it all with a golden heart. He’s the man who’s helped ease her pain and has given her so much light that she feels like she might burst.

“I want you,” she whispers. Her eyes connect with his and he squeezes her hand again.

“You already have me.”

Allura blows out the candle and sends the room into darkness. She wraps her arms tightly around his shoulders and she holds him as close as she can possibly get to him, but even that is not close enough.

“No, I _want_ you,” she whispers again, tugging at his shirt.

“Oh.” He presses a kiss against the side of her head, and smiles into her hair. “Anything the birthday girl wants.”

A light pink glow suddenly emits from the markings on her cheeks, the one she hides from humanity because they’re a little too eccentric for humans. Shiro kisses both of the pink little wings beneath her eyes and smiles at her, seeing that her eyes too, have morphed back into a celestial bright blue with pink pupils.

“I love seeing you this way,” he says warmly against one of her ears, pointedly kissing at her earlobe.

Allura lets out a startled laugh, and pushes at his face, unintentionally bumping him back into the table with her strength. “You only say that because my ears remind you of those elves from that ring movie you made me watch.”

“Guilty,” he says. He’s smiling that wonderful smile of his, staring at her with the softest of eyes. It makes Allura want to hold him and never let go.

A loud, protesting squeak makes the both of them jolt and Allura’s markings glow even brighter at the sudden outburst. The mice suddenly poke their heads out of her hair. 

“Alright, alright, Chuchule!” she says, allowing the mice to scurry down her arm onto the table. “You’re right, I know you would all like to try the cake. I’m sorry.”

The mice scamper over to the cupcake, and Allura can hear them squeak amongst themselves about how they’ll split it up. She gives Shiro a shy little smile before she wraps her arms around him and pulls him closer.

“Guess it’s better not to have an audience,” Shiro says with an equally bashful look. He leans in to get closer and pushes a stray lock of silvery hair behind her ear.

“I would agree.”

—

“Shiro.” Her voice is just above a whisper against the bed sheets, but it sounds so heavy. “I must confess something.”

“Oh no.” He smiles softly and kisses at her shoulder. His eyes close. “What is it?”

“Remember how you said humans reach half their life at the age of 50?”

“Mhm.”

“My species, the Alteans—we live…much longer than that,” she says.

His eyes flutter open. “How much longer…exactly?”

“Well.” She bites at her lip, suddenly feeling so ashamed for admitting her age. She remembers proudly announcing the lifespan of her people to other species when she was on Altea. Now that seems so long ago, lifetimes ago. “Assuming I did the math right, which I’m utmost certain I did, I’m around 200 earth years old.”

She doesn’t have to look—she can feel him staring at her.

“Wow,” he breathes. “You really are a High Elf.”

Allura exhales a hot stream of air through her nose and pushes a hand against his face, frowning at him. “Enough of that, _Takashi._ ”

Shiro laughs and tries to squirm away from her touch. “Okay, okay,” he says once he manages to get out of her grasp and smiles at her. “I yield. No more _Lord of the Rings._ ”

“I thought it would…upset you?”

“I think it’s… well… I think it’s amazing,” he says, taking her hand away from his face and holding it. “I can’t imagine all of the things you’ve seen. And all the things you’re going to continue to see and do.”

“I will outlive you.”

She sees his face tense for just a moment and he leans in to kiss each one of her knuckles. “Yeah, that crossed my mind for a second, but I guess I’d rather not think about that. Not when things are so perfect right now.”

“Oh, an optimist, are you?” She smiles faintly, and feels her heart squeeze in her chest like the way she squeezes his hand with her own.

“No, just a man that’s in denial.” He offers her a small smile, one that’s weak at the edges, eyes soft with a hint of sadness she didn’t want to see, but prepared herself for.

She lets out a long exhale, reaching over and holding his face so delicately in her hands. His face is youthful and perfect to her, even with the jagged scar etched across the bridge of his nose. Even with the shock of white in his hair. He’s beautiful.

Her thumb runs along a small crease in his forehead and then over the little one at the corner of his mouth where he likes to shine the brightest of grins. “I suppose you’ll just have to be my _Acorn._ ” 

Shiro stares at her for a moment. 

“I think what you’re trying to say is, _Aragorn._ ” Shiro can’t help but snort and she’s relieved to see that sad look wiped from his face. “You’re talking about the human man in love with the elven lady from the movie, right? Aragorn.”

“That was most certainly not his name.” She can’t help but giggle along with him and squeezes his face in her hands, which only makes him laugh harder and turn the cutest shade of pink.

“Well, it definitely isn’t _Acorn!_ ”


End file.
